Method of and machine for making wire-glass.



- N. FRANZEN. METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE GLASS. APPLICATION FILED JAE. 7, 1907.

5% im% Patentefi Jan. 4, 1910.

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' 14. FRAHZEH, METEOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE GLASS.

APPLICATION PILEB JAN. 7, 1907.

' Patentm'i Jan. li, 191.6, 2 $.HEBTS-SHBET 2.

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METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE-GLASS.

Application filed. January 7, 1907. Serial No. 351,185. V

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NICKLAS FnANznn,

residing at Walton, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or dis-' covered certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Machines for Making Wire-Glass, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in methods of and machines for makingwire glass; and the objects of'my improvements are a method bywhich wire-glass may be produced in more perfectcommercial condition than has heretofore been possible, .and a machine in the operation of which my i mproved method is accomplished.

In the making-of wire-glass by the various methods now employed, .relatively cold wire is buried in molten or visced glass, and the glass is thereupon brought to the shape in which it is allowed to cool and harden. The buried wire, heated by contact with the glass, expands and 'workswithin the body of the sheet, and, disturbing the substance thereof, produces a roughness or unevenness of surface which remains in the cold and hardened sheet.

My invention, broadly stated, consists in spreading upon the newly formed and still hot surface of the otherwise completed sheet;

of wire-glass, a finishing layer or coatin -of' glass which will enter and fill the sur 'ace irregularities produced by the movement of the wire alluded to, and give the desired smoothness of surface to the whole.

Itis possible,- in following preexisting methods, to obtain a fairly smooth surface, if the operation :proceeds veryslowly. But the gain in surface finish thus obtained is offset; for, when the operation is performed very slowly, the end of the sheet first finished grows cold before the completed sheet can be brought to the annealing; oven; and it is then necessary before procee i In'the drawings which form part of'this; specification I have shown' a machine for making wire-glass, including-in its structure and mode of operation my prcsentmventlon.

ng with the anneal-- ing operation, to detain the sheet at the hot Though not limited thereto, I have shown my invention applied to a machine for makmg wire-glass by the so-called sandwich Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 4, 1910.

method; that is, the method wherein the 6() sheet is built up of superposed layers, with the wireembedded between.

Figures 1; 2, and 3' show, diagrammatically, in longitudinal section, and in site-- cessive operative positions, such a machine, 55

havingmy invention applied thereto. Figs. 4 and 5 are like views, illustrating modifications in structure.

In the several figures, like parts are designated by corresponding characters.

. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 I have shown a table, 1, a primary spreading roll, 2, a carrier. for the wire, 3, a secondary spreading roll, 4, and a finishin roll, 5.

A is the initial pour of molten glass, which is spread to'la er form, a, upon table 1v by the primary r0 1, 2; B is the second batch of molten glass, which is teemed upon the initial layer and spread to layer form, I), thereon by roll 4;"and C is a third batch of 0 molten glass, which in turn is teemed upon the previously spread and superposed layers and is spread to layer form, .0, thereon by the finishing roll, 5.

'w' is the web of wire or other fabric which 35 is incorporated with the glass to form the sheet of wire-glass; and, in the instance illustrated, it is introduced beneath layer 6 as layer 6 is formed upon layer a.

The several parts of the apparatus being in the positions indicated in Fig. 1, table 1 being at the extreme left, roller 2, carrier 3,

roll 4,-and roll -5standing in successive positions to the right-.a batch of molten glass, A,

is teemed upon the forming surface of table 1, to the left of the initial forming roll, 2.

Table 1 is then propelled to the right, in the direction'indicatedby the arrow in Fig. 1. It will be understood that, when-it is said that. table 1 is propelled to the right, it is ,intended merely that there shall be a relative movement; of table 1 with respect to the other parts of the machine; As table. 1 advances to the'rlight with respect to the other parts, the initialforming roll 2 being properly spaced and arranged above its surface, the batch of molten glass A is progressively spread-beneath roll 2 into a layer, a,.shown in its entirety'in Fig. 2. The initiallayer' thus spread passes, by themovement offthe 1 parts of the machine, beneath-the carrier 3; andthls carrier supports a web of'wire or other fabric, w, which is to be incorporated in the finished sheet.'. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, this carrier bears the web, w, upon its under surface; and this may readily be accomplished in case the web is an iron-wire netting (Swhich is the form now practically employe by magnetizing the carrier 3, and causing the web to adhere magnetically to itsunder surface. -\Vhen, however, the initial layer, a, borne upon table 1, comes to position beneath carrier 3, the carrier is emagnetized; and the web, to, being then released from the magnetic attraction, falls, and rests throughout its length upon the up' per surface of the layer of glass a. It will be noted that the wire is thus applied to the initial layer without any tension or pull or stretching or strain; and this is a feature of considerable value. Further progress of the table 1 to the right relative to the other parts of the machine carries the layer a, bearing upon its surface the web '11:, from beneath carrier 3, and exposes theadvance end thereof between carrier 3 and the secondary spreading roll, 4. Here a second batch of molten glass, B, is teemed upon the wire-covered surface of layer a; and, as the table advances relatively to the secondary spreading roll, 4, that rollspreads the inglten batch of glass B to layer form upon the wire covered surface of the layer (1-. Thus a sheet of wire glass is formed. The exposed surface of this sheet, as it passes from beneath the secondary forming roll 4,

caves the whole sheet with a surface more level, less irregular,- and better suited for practical service than has otherwise been attained in practical wire-glass manufacture. It will be understood that it is a matter of mere adjustment of rolls 2, 4, and 5, relative to the surface of table 1, to produce the desiredthickness of the successive layers, andto obtain a sheet of any ultimate desiredand practical thickness.

. The osition of roll 5 rearward from roll 4, is etermined by practical conditions.

' The working of the wire within. the sheet and the conse uent surface disturbance occur immediate y upon the incorporation of the wire, which in this instance is simulta neous with the formation of the sheet. The pouring and spreading of the final layer,

- which characterizes my present invention,

will of course follow at a sulficient interval to allow the thermal working described above to take place, and yet so closely upon the formation of the otherwise completed sheet that the union may be complete, and the compound sheet built up into a coherent whole. Within such practical limits, the interval between rolls 4 and 5 may vary.

Since the surface of the sheet as it passes from beneath roll 4 is unfinished, and since more glass is to be s read upon it and consolidated upon it to o'rm the finished sheet, I consider 1t desirable, though not essential to my invention, to construct roll 4 with a pittedsurface, of the character shown and described in Letters Patent No. 823,112, granted me June 12, 1906. The roll so constructed bears throughout its surface pocketlike depressions or culs de sac, in which small quantities of air are entrapped by the molten glass, as the roll pro resses to spread the molten glass to-layer orm; and these small bodies of air, entrapped as the sheet is being formed, insulate the surface of the sheet from chilling contact with the surface of the forming roll at these points. Thus, the surface of the sheet as it passes from be neath such a pitted roll bears protuberances or slight excrescences of soft, unhardened glass; and upon such a surface the third layer a may be spread by the finishing roll 5 and more intimately incorporated to form the finished sheet. 1

In Fig. '4 I have shown a modification in the structure of the machine; for, in place of such a carrier for the Wire as I have described and shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and indicated by numeral 3, I employ in this instance a chute, 3, upon the upper surface of which the wire, w, rests. In this wirecarricr I lay the web of wire, 'w,- so that its end projects beyond the lower end thereof; and, as in the operation of the machine the table 1' advances with the initial layer (1 upon it beneath the carrier 3*, this depending end of the web of wire will rest upon the anterior end of the layer a. The second batch of glass, B, being then teemed upon this end of the web of wire which rests upon the forward end of the layer a, the carrier 3 is retracted; and, as it is withdrawn, the web of wire, 10, comes to rest upon the upper surface of layer a. From that point on, the operation of the machine progresses as in the first instance.

In Fig. 5 there is another slight modification, in that the carrier for the wire, in this case indicated by 3", is not shifted independently, nor is the wire laid down upon layer a. from end to end before the spreading of the second layer b is begun; but. the carrier 1' is gradually retracted as the roll .4 advances, and the web of wire w is gradually fed from the carrier and brought to position uponp layer a by the molten glass, as it advances, in front of roll 4. In thecase of this Fig. 130

5, a further modification is shown, in that the sheet is built up progressively, the initial layer, a, being in course of formation while the other layers are being successively spread upon its anterior end. It will be understood that, so far as my present invention goes, these are obvious variations; the arrangement and operation of the machine being in such respects in the control of the builder and operator, and the determining conditions are matters of temperature, solidity, andexpansion and oxidation of the varilous component parts of the sheet of wire g ass.

'In the specification and claims I employ the terms web, fabric, and wire to designate the embedded substance which gives character to the finished product. Under existing conditions, this substance is a netting, woyen or twisted, of light iron wire. It will be understood the invention is not I limited, but is applicable to the making of its surface and Within its body and with prosuch a product whatever he the material of which the embedded substance is formed and whatever beits shape, so long as there exists an irregularity of surface consequent upon conditions of formation and which the producer seeks to overcome.

I claim as my invention:

1. The herein described method of making Wire-glass which consists in forming a sheet of glass with a Web of wire buried beneath 'trusions' of soft or unchilled glass upon its surface, and in spreading upon the protrusion-bearing surface of such sheet when newly formed a final finishing layer of glass. 2. The herein described method of making wire-glass which consists in spreading V a batch of molten glass to layer form, spreading and applying to and unifying with the initial layer a second layer of glass, with a web of wire inclosed between the layers, and embedded in the sheet which the united layers form, and finally spreading upon the surface of such sheet when newly formed a final finishing layer of glass.

In a machine for making wire-glass the combination with means for forming a sheet of glass having a web of wire buried beneath its surface and Within its body and having also protubc'rances of soft or unchilled glass upon its surface, of means for spreading upon the protrusion-bearing surface of such sheet, a final finishing layer of glass, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for making wire-glass the combination of means for s reading a batch of molten glass to layer orm, means for spreading and applying to and unifying with the initial layer a second layer of glass with a web of wire inclosed between the layers and embedded in the sheet thus formed, and

molten glass to layer form, substantially as described.

l 6. In a machine for making wire-glass the combination of a supporting surface, means for spreading a batch of molten glass to layer form upon such su porting surface, a wire-carrier magnetiza le to hold and carry a'web of wire, movable to and from position above the supporting surface and demagnetizable to release a web of Wire carried by it and to permit such web'to fall i and rest upon a layer'of glass spread upon said supporting surface,,means for embedding the wire in glass upon such supporting" surface, and means for spreading upon the surface of the sheet thus formed a final finishing layer of glass, substantially as described.

'Z. The method of making wire-glass which is described herein, which consists in spreading a batch of molten glass'to layer form upon a forming surface, depositing thereon without embedding and without stress or strain or pull a web of wire,-and in applying to the initial layer after the wire has been deposited thereon, a second layer of glass, and incorporating such second layer with the initial layer through the said web of Wire, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

NICKLAS FRANZEN.

Witnesses CHARLES BARNETT,

W. H. Wipson. 

